Rooster2

If not battery corrosion, then a bad battery like others have said. Some time ago, I had a VW. One day, it seemed a little difficult to start, then the dash gauges started reading crazy, and the motor ran rough. Turned out to be a battery with a failing cell, so output was more like 10 volts. Replaced the battery fixed the problem.

Suggest you go to a wrecking yard. One that lets you pull off parts. That way you will see how glass is installed. Pulling out the replacement glass will also teach you how to replace in your son's car. It should not be a difficult do it yourself project. Get your son involved too. He will appreciate his car more, when he fixes his car. Best also to use a vacuum cleaner hose to remove the broken chunks of glass inside the door and elsewhere.

Since you had a critter chew on the wire, look at all wiring to see if there is added chewing elsewhere that is part of your problem. You may want to run a test wire directly to the fans from the battery to see if the fan motors run properly. I don't think the fans have fuses in them. That is the responsibility of the fuse that you found blown.

Steve, If you are unaware, the rotors are removed by screwing small bolts into the two unused threaded holes near the center of the rotor. The threaded holes were made for this purpose, whereby the bolts threading in actually push the rotor off the hub. Just be sure that you have the correct size small bolts to thread into the rotor. I can't remember where they are, but there are small bolts already on the Subaru that can be removed to fit the threaded holes. Maybe, someone on this forum will chime in as to where those bolts are. Update........I seem to remember that the bolt that secures the caliper is the correct size to thread into the threaded holes near the center of the rotor. I hope I am right!

Yea, figured it was duel piston. To change the pads, just remove the lower bolt on the caliper. The caliper will then pivot up and out of the way on the top stud, exposing the pads. Perhaps you already know this. Changing pads on a Subaru is designed so as to be so easy and convenient!

Just use a "C" clamp to push the piston back into the caliper. It prolly has two pistons, so alternate back and forth between the two, as you depress the pistons. Suggest using antisieze on the slides where the pads reside. When I changed my pads, I bled out the old brake fluid, and replaced with new. My old brake fluid had the color of iced tea, so I knew it was time for a change.

what are you paying for bosch wires? Bosch wires were something like $40-$45 bucks about 4 years ago, so prolly no savings over OEM wires. I can just recommend that Bosch quality is good, and worth buying. It is the low end cheap wires at auto parts stores that cause problems.

Yea, the OEM spark plug wires are great, but a dealer is not close to where I live. I highly recommend the Bosch wires and plugs from a parts. I have gotten great use from them.

For a car coming up on being 10 years old, and with 130 K miles, I would be reluctant to spend $800 on simply valve cover gaskets, if it were my car. But, that is just me. My experience is that every Subaru that is at, or near 10 years old is going to leak oil from its gaskets. I would try the cheap and easy way out by adding a stop oil leak product additive to the engine oil. My experience is that it will help a lot, but won't totally stop the oil leak. I have done this on both my 98 and 99 OBWs with 2.5 motors and have achieved pretty good success. The oil spots from leakage while parked on my driveway are down to almost none now. I put a can of additive in at each oil change. The additive supposedly swells the gaskets to stop, or at least slow down the leaks. For about $5, per can, it is worth a try.

It would be helpful to know what year and what model Subie you own. So, please let us know what you got. Certain Subie motors like the 2.5 phase 1 used in 96-99 year Subies are prone to head gasket trouble. The problem starts to present itself like yours with random over heating that gets worse and worse. What happens is that exhaust gas leaks into the cooling system to cause the over heating. However, you may be lucky in that it is just a bad hose or leaky radiator. Suggest you clean up the sprayed out coolant, then look for a source of the leak. Pretty hard to tell much until all the coolant mess is addressed first.

Welcome aboard the USMB board. Lots of knowledgeable folks here, who really know their Subies, and give good advise. My advise is to jack up the passenger front corner. Once up in the air, try pulling the road wheel in and out, then left and right, to see if their is any "play" in the suspension. If you detect any play (looseness), then it is a sign of bad ball joints, or bad tie rods. Also, look at the rubber boots at each end of the half shaft. See if there are any rips in the rubber boots, which lets the grease out and the dirt in. If any boots are bad, then best to change the half shaft. Dirt in the torn boots contributes to wear, which can cause the noise you hear, though it is mostly heard as clicking noise. A bad wheel bearing can also cause the noise you hear, usually identifyed as an "rrrrrrrrrrrrrr" sound when turning only one direction with some speed, as on a curved exit ramp. Lots written hear about torque bind. It is a problem associated with all wheel drive. Type "torque bind" in the search portion of this forum to read the vast archives on the subject, and how to remedy it. Struts last a long time on Subies, so even with a ton of miles on your car, the struts still may be good. Bad struts will cause a bouncy ride, and poor steering control. Push up and down repeatedly on each of your front fenders, then stop to see if the suspension wants to rebound repeatedly with little dampening action. If so, then the struts need replacing. Also, look at the strut with the road wheel removed to see if there is any evidence of oil leaking from the strut. This too, indicates a bad strut.

Good idea on the trickle charger. I have also thought of buying one of those quick disconnect clamps that attaches to the positive post on the battery. The kind that screw the knob down, and it connects power to the cable. Unscrew the knob, and all power to the vehicle is disconnected. However, doing that erases all presents on the radio, and the clock looses its memory. I use a battery disconnect on my RV when not in use.

It gets driven around town about twice per week on roughly 20-30 minute trips. I have had some trouble with the battery running down, because not driven enough to keep the battery charged.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thought, but wanted verification.

My 99 OBW travels no more then 2,000 miles per year. It is a back up car, when my one of my other two cars is not available. With that few miles per year, is it prudent to change the oil just once per year?

Rebuilt Calipers?? Are you thinking about replacing both?? If it were me, I would replace only the one that is bad.

With the cockeyed bore, I don't see how trying to work to repair it, is worth the time & trouble. If it were me, I would buy a rebuilt caliper from a parts store, and install it.

Good advise..........Thanks!

Any idea what the cost would be?

Glad to hear another Trans-X success story. I'm Rooster2 (Larry), who wrote the original thread. It is my understanding that the 99/00 Subie auto trany holds only about 9 quarts, with half in the pan, the other half in the torque converter. So, adding 2 bottles is prolly too much in my opinion. Like you, I tried the Lucas trany additive first, but it did nothing to fix the delayed trany engagement. Only with the encouragement and advisement of my local experienced (older) Autozone counter guy did I try the Trans-X. I am on my third year with Tranx-X, and the trany continues to perform well. However, about 8 months ago, the trany started to get just a little bit lazy on forward engagement. I drained the trany, and added another bottle of Trans-X, and all is well again. So, I am running a little more then 1 bottle now. The trany seems to shift gears a bit firmer now, but that is okay with me.

A clogged fuel filter could also be the source of the sputtering. You may want to replace the filter first before replacing the fuel pump. Still you need to pull all the codes to learn what they are trying to tell you.

Suggest you change the automatic transmission fluid. Subaru has a drain bolt on the bottom of the pan, so it is easy to drain. However, since only about half the ATF can be drained at one time, as the other half of the ATF remains in the torque converter. it is good to drain and change three times to get a good change of fluid. I drive around about five minutes between changes. Yes, this approach uses a lot of ATF, but still less expensive then having a pressure fluid changed at a service garage. I am thinking the fluid change will help your trany change gears a lot smoother.

If it were me, I would add a can or two of refrigerant to see if that fixes the problem. If it is a slow leak it may take a year or two, maybe more before more refrigerant needs to be added. It is an ez do it yourself project to add refrigerant. Just ask how, if you don't know how. We will be glad to advise how.